Metal Walker

Tired of Pok¿balls and Metapods? This sci-fi RPG for Game Boy has the robotic remedy.

Nintendo has a knack for inventing new gaming genres that other developersspend the next few years trying to imitate. Whether it's 3D platformers orcollecting-centric RPGs like Pokémon, most of the games that try to copyanother's success fail because they bring nothing original into the mix.Capcom's Metal Walker, on the other hand, is one of those rare andpleasant surprises that is clearly part of a well-defined genre, but managesto bring enough originality and fun to make it worth playing.

Features

Evil Metal Busters and Metal Masters to battle, each with unique ScanData to collect

Core Units to collect which allow your Metal Walker to evolve into newforms

Metal Walker's first unique twist on the Pokémon formula is a sciencefiction spin to the world and storyline of the game. As the 21st centurycame to a close, a new metal known only as "Core" was discovered on a remoteisland. Following a devastating explosion, the scorched island was dubbedRusted Land and abandoned by the government. You play as Tetsuo, a young manwho searches Rusted Land for his long-lost father with the help of Dr. Hawkand your Metal Walker. Metal Walkers are robots made of the mysterious Coremetal, which allows them to evolve from one form to another. Much like inPokémon, players begin their journey with the Metal Walker in its simplestform, and through battles with wild Metal Walkers (known as Metal Busters)and other Metal Masters, experience points accumulate which allow the MetalWalker to transform into new machines. All Metal Walkers fall into threebasic types: Land, Marine, and Sky. Land types have an advantage over Marinetypes, but are vulnerable to attacks from Sky types, and so on. But whilethe basic structure of the world and gameplay of Metal Walker areclearly based on Pokémon, there are so many original twists to the formulathat it keeps the game from simply feeling like a carbon-copy.

Battles, for one, take place in an actual arena where players and enemiestake turns bouncing around like pinballs off the walls and each other. Atthe beginning of each turn, players decide which direction the Metal Walkeris going to go and how hard to head in that direction. This adds several newelements to the gameplay. First of all, when players battle multipleopponents, everyone occupies the battle arena at the same time. Therefore, awell angled attack can strike one enemy, bounce off a wall, pick up apower-up Capsule, and strike another enemy all in one turn. And if anenemy's attack bounces the Walker against a wall, it can cause it toricochet back and damage the enemy before the next move begins. This basic'ramming' strike is the basic attack in Metal Walker, but thestrategic use of those power-up Capsules is the key to winning any match. Ifplayers can bounce an enemy into a Transmitter in the arena, that enemy'sScan Data is collected. The scrap metal that is won at the end of each matchcan then be taken to the Junk Shop, where the shop's manager can use theScan Data and scrap metal to create Capsules. These Capsules contain specialattacks, power-ups, or even traps that can decide who wins or loses a match.At the start of each round, a Capsule in the player's (or enemy's) inventoryis thrown into the arena, where either side can pick them up with awell-angled bounce. It's a fun, addictive twist to the Pokémon battle systemthat adds a greater feeling of control and action to the game.

There's also no 'capturing' of the wild Metal Walkers you come across. Onlythe leftover pounds of scrap metal (and occasionally Capsules) are won orlost in each battle. Players only have a single Metal Walker which they canfreely change back and forth between the various configurations you gainwith experience. When players come up against Metal Masters -- basically thelevel bosses -- they win new Core Units, which allow your Metal Walker totransform into entirely new types of robots with unique abilities. It's anenormous world with hundreds of enemies, puzzles, and dozens of robot typesto unlock. As players progress through the game, new Bases are found andbuilt which can be traded with other players over the game link, althoughthis and the ability to battle your Metal Walkers against each other aren'tnearly as enjoyable as battling other Pokémon trainers.

The story is also surprisingly engrossing, with clues to find by searchingrooms and talking with the island's inhabitants. There are some obviousblunders in the Japanese-to-English translation, but they're amusing ZeroWing-like mistakes that are infrequent enough to add charm to the gamerather than distract. Metal Walker's music is also pleasantly varied,shifting from area to area and when players enter new battles. While theartwork of the Metal Walkers themselves have a cool, robotic sci-fi look tothem, the rest of the world doesn't compare to the more detailed close-upsof the Metal Walkers.

The Verdict

When I popped Metal Walker into my Game Boy, I was expecting it to be
an uninteresting Pok¿mon knock-off. I'm happy to say that the unique battle
system to the game makes it an entirely different experience, and the
simplified choices you have with transforming the Walkers themselves keeps
the emphasis on action, not endless collecting. The sci-fi spin to the game
lends it a different feel entirely, and goes deeper than just
window-dressing. The two-player experience isn't nearly as deep and
enjoyable as Pok¿mon, but for solitary players that are fans of the series,
Metal Walker is definitely worth picking up.